News

Blue-Bloods Win at Sha Tin

28th Sep 2010

Breednet - Tara Madgwick - Monday, 27 September 2010

Champion Australian sires Encosta de Lago and Redoute’s Choice were both represented on the winners list at Sha Tin on Sunday by a pair of Widden Stud sold graduates.

John Moore and Darren Beadman combined forces to win the Class Four event over 1200 metres with promising three year-old colt Admiration, a $625,000 purchase from the Widden Stud draft at the 2009 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

Admiration made it two wins and a second from just four starts when he charged home from the back of the field to win his seasonal debut by half a length.

A beautiful athletic bay, Admiration (pictured as a yearling) is the first foal of stakes-winning Redoute’s Choice mare Provence, a three-quarter sister to Group One HK International Sprint winner Inspiration, who is also trained by John Moore.

Widden Stud consigned the full brother to Admiration to the 2010 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale where he fetched $700,000 to the bid of Demi O’Byrne.

John Moore's son, George selected Admiration as a yearling for top owners, Mr and Mrs Hui Sai-fun, but said he had been unable to buy the full brother this year.

"We knew Admiration could gallop and tried to buy his brother, but Coolmore liked him a bit too much and paid a lot of money for him," he told South China Morning Post.

Given his breeding, Admiration has been left a colt in case he turns out to be a stallion proposition and that scenario may well unfold, with some precedence for success now evident with the likes of former HK stars Lucky Owners and Hidden Dragon making quite an impression in Australia at stud.

"He hadn't shown any sign that he was going the wrong way, so we left him as a colt, considering his pedigree," Moore said. "He is a horse that we will stretch out in distance and hope eventually he'll get a strong 2,000m.

"He won well today - we had no options but to take him back from the wide draw and Darren had to ride for luck but it came and that was a good win against experienced older horses carrying a big weight."

Also saluting was injury troubled four year-old Redoute’s Choice gelding Redoute Star, who scored over 1800 metres by nearly three lengths to break his maiden in fine style for Tony Cruz.

A $710,000 purchase for the Hong Kong Jockey Club from the Widden draft at the 2008 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Redoute Star was bred by Gooree Stud and is by Redoute’s Choice from Significant Moment making him a half-brother to Group Three winner Crowned Glory from the family of champion sire Zabeel.

Redoute Star was partnered by champion jockey Douglas Whyte, who was able to get the best from the enigmatic performer.

"Dougie gave him a perfect ride but going to 1,800 metres helped, even 1,600 metres is a bit sharp for him, he's 1,800-2,000-metre horse, said Tony Cruz.

"He's improving now and on the rise and I hope he will start to go back up in class as he is still only a young horse."

Whyte was also impressed with the effort put in by Redoute Star.

"I can't believe it has taken that long to win a race," Whyte said. "He's so full of himself, he feels like he's still a colt, but not one moment did he give me the feeling he wouldn't win, he just travelled like the winner throughout.”